Seymour Schulich

“A hundred years from now, it will not matter what your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove, but the world may be different because you were important in the life of a young person.” –Forest Witcraft

Seymour Schulich is an entrepreneur and philanthropist. Born in Montreal, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1961 and a Masters of Business Administration in 1965, both from McGill University. He obtained his Chartered Financial Analyst degree from the University of Virginia in 1969.

His career began at the Shell Oil Company, and then eastern Securities Ltd. Later, he joined the newly formed firm Beutel, Goodman & Company Ltd., where he became a partner and Vice-President. He moved with the company to Toronto in 1977. His career at Beutel, Goodman spanned 22 years (1968 to 1990). During the last three years he served as President. It was one of the largest pension fund management companies in Canada during this period.

In 1985, Schulich pioneered the concept of royalty payments in the mining industry and created two gold royalty companies, Euro-Nevada and Franco Nevada, in partnership with Pierre Lassonde. As Co-Founder, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Franco-Nevada mining Corporation, his team developed it into the largest royalty resource company in the world.

In 2002, Franco-Nevada merged with Normandy Mining Limited of Australia and Newmont Mining Corporation, creating the largest gold mining company in the world, Newmont Mining Corporation. Schulich was a Director of Newmont Mining and Chairman of its merchant banking division for five years until 2007. He is currently a self-described merchant banker, investor and philanthropist.

Seymour Schulich has more than 40 years experience in the natural resource business, having served on the boards of numerous oil and mining companies and many philanthropic organizations. His many accolades include being named “Mining Men of the Year” along with Lassonde in 1997; being awarded a Member of the Order of Canada in 2000 and promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada in January 2012, the highest recognition a Canadian civilian can receive. He has received honorary doctorates from five universities and has been inducted into two Canadian Hall of Fames: The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2006 and The Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2007, he wrote a #1-selling non-fiction book, Get Smarter, aimed at mentoring young Canadian adults. This book is now sold globally in English and Chinese, with French, Spanish and Indian editions authorized.

Schulich is among Canada’s greatest philanthropists to date, having donated in excess of $350 million to various causes. His philanthropic efforts are largely focused on education and health care centres across Canada and the U.S., with prominent new endeavours in Israeli education.

Schulich’s 10 major benefactions in no particular order are as follows:

York University: Schulich School of Business (Toronto, Ontario)

Western University: Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry (London, Ontario)

University of Calgary: Schulich School of Engineering (Calgary, Alberta)

Schulich Leader Scholarships represents Schulich’s 11th “Mega Gift” and largest single benefaction to date in terms of monetary value and international scope. The project is powered by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, operating nation-wide in both Canada and Israel.